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Biosurfactants are structurally diverse surface-active molecules, produced on living surfaces, mostly microbial cell surfaces or excreted extracellularly. Rhamnolipid biosurfactants have wide spectrum use and are predominantly produced by the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In this study, 75 Pseudomonas strains isolated from distinct native habitats were screened following oil spreading technique, methylene blue agar method, hemolytic blood agar method and surface tension measurement of the cell free culture. Ten selected isolates were tested for their ability to produce rhamnolipid biosurfactants in glycerol mediated broth. The best among them, Pa24, was confirmed as Pseudomonas aeruginosa through 16S rRNA sequence analysis. Experiments carried out on the ability of P. aeruginosa strain Pa24 revealed its potential to utilize range of vegetable oils such as coconut oil, palm oil, jatropha oil, neem oil and mineral glycerol as sole source of carbon and produce rhamnolipid biosurfactant. The extracted biosurfactant was characterized by thin layer chromatography and high performance thin layer chromatography as mixture of di-rhamnolipid and mono-rhamnolipid biosurfactants. The crude extract of rhamnolipid was tested in-vitro for antifungal activity against Phytophthora capsici and Phytophthora infestans and the MIC50 were found to be 815.8 ppm and 373.9 ppm, respectively. Further exploration on different renewable carbon sources including agriculture industrial wastes to produce rhamnolipid biosurfactants can improve the efficiency and reduce the environmental pollution through waste discharge from these industries.

Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (p-NETs) are a rare group of neoplasms but with increasing incidence. The atypical complications that arise in the setting of functional endocrine tumors are underreported and therefore have not received sufficient attention and the necessary mention in the oncology literature. The clinical implications of these complications pose management challenges starting with the difficulty in establishing diagnosis, accurate staging and optimal treatment of the primary process. We present the case of a middle-aged woman diagnosed with adrenocorticotropic hormone-producing carcinoma arising from the pancreas whose case was complicated by excessive uncontrolled hypercortisolism and reactivation of pulmonary opportunistic infections that confounded her management. We believe that this case illustration will be of value to practicing oncologists and other groups of physicians who are called upon to participate in the multidisciplinary treatment of these relatively rare but highly challenging cases.